George alban lewes



(NQ Model.)

G. A. LEWES.

SIGHT FOR MILITARY OR OTHER FIRE ARMS.

No. 421,948. Patented Feb. 25,1890.

V WiIMAe/s UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

GEORGE ALBAN LEWVES, OF FARNBOROUGH, ENGLAND.

SIGHT FOR MILITARY AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS.

SPECIFIGATIOK forming part of Letters Patent No. 421,943, dated February25, 1890.

Application filed April 22, 1889. Serial No'.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE ALBAN Lawns, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Farnborough, England, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Sights for Military and other Fire-Arms, and forOrdnance, (patented in Great Britain, No. 14,093, dated October 1,1888,and in Belgium, No. 80,414, dated January27,1888,) of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to sights for military and other rifles,machine-guns, and ordnance, and has for its chief object to providemeans whereby a rifle may be much more readily and accurately sightedthan heretofore and the sight adjusted; and to this end it comprises theimprovements hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are a rear elevation andside elevation, respectively, of a sliding back sight constructedaccording to my invention and adapted for application to a rifle; andFigs. 3 and-4 are views similar to Figs. 1 and 2, respectively, of thefore sight. Fig. 5 is a plan of the fore sight. Figs. 6, '7, and 8 areviews illustrating the'operation of the sights.

a indicates the barrel of a rifle; b, the sightflap, which is hinged orjointed to the block 0 011 the barrel; (1, the bar sliding on the flapand having its upper edge beveled; and e c, flanges upon the block,which serve as a protection and support for the flap.

f is a square or approximatelysquare notch, which is formed in thecentral portion of the upper edge of the sliding bar, and from thecenter of the bottom of which extends a fine White or platinum line g.

h is a notch of similar size and shape to the notch f, formed in thehead portion of the flap and adapted to be used as hereinafterdescribed, and h is another notch in the said head and corresponding tothe greatest range for which the rifle is sighted.

The fore sight consists of a block 11, which has a straight top and acentral slot j, as shown in Fig. 3, and which is beveled downward towardthe muzzle, as shown in Fig. 4, the said block being of such height thatthe accuracy of aim is not affected by fixing the bayonet. This slotitself also widens toward 808,142. (No modeL) Patented in BelgiumJanuary 27, 1888, No. 80,414, and in England October 1, 1888, No.14,093.

the muzzle, as shown in Fig. 5 and in dotted lines in Fig. 3. This slotis not intended to be looked through, but merely to form a center lineon the fore sight in place of an ordinary line of platinum or enamel, ithaving been found that such a line is very liable to be damaged infixing and unfixing bayonets, whereas the line formed by a slot iscapable of a great amount of rough wear. The fore sight 0; is of suchsize that it completely covers the notch f in the slide d, or thenotches h or h, when sighting the fire-arm, the aim being correct whenthe tops of the sliding bar (Z or of the head portion of the flap and ofthe fore sight z' appear to form a continuous horizontal line and whenthe line formed by the slot j coincides with the line g, as shown inFig. 6, or the block is fairly in' the middle of the notch.

For short rangessay ranges under five hundred yards-the sights are soadjusted that when the sliding bar is down and the flap lying flat, asshown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the rifle would cover a man at anydistance under three hundred yards. In this case the slot h is used inconjunction with the sight t. The height of the flanges e 6 should besuch that when the bar 01 is pushed up the flap as far as it will go andthe flap is thrown down, so that the bar (Z- bears against the saidflanges, the elevation will be correct for four hundred yards. For fivehundred yards the sliding bar will be run-down as far as it will go andthe flap raised. For dis tances above five hundred yards the bar at israised according to the graduations on the flap, as in a'Martini-Henryrifle, which graduations will obviouslyrun according to the arm to whichthe sight is applied. The slot h serves for sighting the rifle at theextreme range for which it is intended to be sighted. The advantage of asight constructed so as to allow of this kind of adjustment is that aman using the rifle is enabled to adjust the sights for short ranges bya touch in the dark or without looking at them. The sliding bar (Z maybe provided with an adjustable wind-gage, if desired; but this is notnecessary, as, owing to the use of the slot f mo in the bar d, wind canbe allowed for, as indicated in Figs. 7' and 8, Without losing sight ofthe line j of the fore sight, the line on the block i being then more orless away from the center of the slot f, as indicated in Figs. 7 and S.I sometimes dispense with the line g in the back sight, in which case insighting the arm a fine line of light must be seen at each side of thefore sight.

In the application of my invention to ordnance the notch for the backsight is cut in the head of the present tangent sight and the squarefore sight substituted for that now generally used.

The chief advantages of my invention are that the liability of taking inmore of the fore sight than is actually intended, and so firing toohigh, is obviated; that it affords the firer every facility forobserving objects moving across the front, as they can be seen movingabove and along the line of the top of the sight; that in volley-firingit enables the whole volley to be delivered at the same elevation; thatthe elevation is not affected by changes of light, and that the tendencyto blur is reduced to a minimum.

It is obvious that my improvements in back sights maybe applied to backsights composed of a series of hinged plates.

I claim-- 1. The combination, with a back sight of a fire-arm having aslot therein, of a fore sight constituted of a block having a straighttop and a central slot, and which is beveled downward toward the muzzle,said block being of such a height that the accuracy of aim is notaffected by fixing the bayonet, all as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with a fore sight of a fire-arm constituted of ablock having a straight top and a central slot widening toward themuzzle, and which is beveled downward toward the muzzle and having theheight, as described, of a back sight composed of a hinged flap 011which a notched bar slides, and which flap also has a head provided withnotches, as described, all as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The described devices for adapting a sight to be adjusted for shortranges by touch and without inspection, consisting of the combination,wit-ha fore sight constituted of a block havinga straight top and acentral slot, and which is beveled downward toward the muzzle, of a hindsight constituted of the block a on the barrel and provided with curvedor inclined flanges e, the hinged flap Z), connected to the block, andthe slide-bar d on the flap, the curve or incline 6 being, as set forth,such that when the slide-bar is pushed up the flap and lies upon the topof the incline or curve the adjustment will be correct for the nextrange, all substantially as described.

GEORGE ALBAN LEWES.

\Vitnesses:

THOMAS M. WALLER, A. G. MAssARD.

